He may be primed to return to his best in 2019, but a revitalised Darius Boyd says he has no regrets about his representative retirement.
After spending his entire NRL career with Wayne Bennett, Boyd, 31, has regained his mojo under new Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold.
Seibold's pre-season arrival has been a shot in the arm after Boyd's 2018 campaign was plagued by injury and doubts that prompted his shock retirement call mid-State of Origin series.
The Broncos skipper said he had fallen back in love with league under Seibold and was itching for his first 2019 hit-out - Saturday night's final pre-season trial against Gold Coast.
But the veteran fullback said his decision to turn his back on rep footy still sat comfortably with him despite Queensland being on the lookout for a new No.1 after Billy Slater's retirement and Valentine Holmes' surprise NFL tilt.
"I have definitely retired. I just wanted to take the outside pressure about Origin away from me," he told AAP.
"I just wanted to get that out of my head and just focus on doing my best for the Broncos which is what I needed to do.
"I didn't have a great year last year. I wanted to get back to my best and I still know I can do that with this club under Seibs.
"I now have the confidence to go out there each week and get back to a level I know I am capable of."
Plagued by hamstring injuries and self doubt, Boyd appeared a shell of himself in 2018 sparking speculation he may not see out his Broncos contract which expires in 2021.
Rumours that Boyd may be on the way out didn't go away following his abrupt rep footy retirement after being overlooked for the 2018 Origin opener.
But Boyd has turned back the clock under Seibold, thriving under a conditioning program introduced by new high performance chief Paul Devlin.
"Last year I did my hamstring three times and missed all the trials and went into the first game underdone," Boyd said.
"I lost confidence and after not being picked for Origin it just dropped even more.
"But I have had a really good pre-season and getting some good feedback on the field, maybe the best I have had in my career to be honest.
"The body is feeling good and the mental space about my body is good - my love for the game is back."
